chocolate Archives - East of Eden Cooking

2018/05/21

Chocolate Superfood Energy Bites

Chocolate cravings and a desire for healthier eating habits come together in these Chocolate Superfood Energy Bites. Rich dark chocolate collides with the superfood powers of cacao, hemp seed hearts and turmeric. Walnuts and tahini add richness and more protein.

“Of course it occurred to him that he might be wrong, that some misbegotten shadow had fallen across his face and warped his seeing.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

I’m not a health food junkie and always find a way to enjoy an occasional sweet. Yes! But I’m also aware of hovering heath issues, especially the osteoarthritis I inherited from both my parents. Prescription meds help, but like many other diseases, it progresses. Inflammation is a body’s enemy. It was difficult for me to believe that certain foods would quickly reduce the inflammation, but amazingly they do. The super food turmeric, short acting and hemp seed hearts, longer acting have changed my daily life. How do I know? I added them to my diet and then stopped when my supply was exhausted. Within a week I was miserable again. Now both turmeric and hemp seed hearts are part of our lunch time smoothies. READ MORE . . .

2018/04/202018/04/21

Chocolate Tart with Pretzel Crust

Chocolate Tart with Pretzel Crust is a deep dive into an ocean of chocolate. A sultry, dark chocolate filling laps up again the crunchy, salty pretzel crust, fitting together like the waves of the ocean and the rocky shore. Serious chocolate lovers will swoon over a thin slice of this voluptuous tart.

“Liza stayed away a week. She cleaned the Trask house from the top clear down into the grain of the wooden floors. She washed everything she could bend enough to get into a tub and sponged the rest.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

It was one of those days when organizing the pantry seemed less daunting than organizing a closet. Days, then months go by, ignoring the ever growing volume of stuff is so easy. Things that need sorting, tossing or to be recycled. It’s always a good exercise. Gratitude for having more than enough is the best attitude for this project. The pantry wasn’t out of control but there was chocolate for baking in two different places. There were chocolate chips, melting chocolate wafers and an odd assortment of other chocolate. To clarify, this included, white, milk and dark chocolate—unsweetened, semi-sweet, bittersweet—bars, wafers, discs and chunks. The dark chocolate included half packages, random squares and one small unlabeled chunk. Too much? Or not enough? Both! The odd assortment of left over dark chocolate was too much to waste and not enough for a single recipe. READ MORE . . .

2018/02/06

Salted Peanut Butter-Pretzel-Chocolate Chip Cookies

With bittersweet chocolate, peanut butter, pretzels and flakey sea salt, Salted Peanut Butter-Pretzel-Chocolate Chip Cookies is a fast, easy recipe that jumps right into cookie magic territory. This is a cookie that is impossible to resist.

“Even as a little girl she hungered for learning as a child does for cookies in the late afternoon.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Salted Peanut Butter-Pretzel-Chocolate Chip Cookies is a stellar recipe from The Perfect Cookie by America’s Test Kitchen. Did you pick up a copy? Before the holidays there were stacks at everyone’s favorite big box store, Amazon has it too. If you are a cookie maker I highly recommend adding The Perfect Cookie to your cookbook collection. The recipe for Salted Peanut Butter-Pretzel-Chocolate Chip Cookies is fast, easy and jumps right into cookie magic territory with bittersweet chocolate, peanut butter, pretzels and flakey sea salt. This is a cookie that is impossible to resist. READ MORE . . .

2018/01/16

Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake

Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake is an indulgent Bundt cake from Ina Garten. Lush chocolate chunks and whispers of orange are suspended in a buttery cake soaked in orange syrup and then covered in chocolate ganache.

“ At John Street the road angled and became Main Street. Adam stamped the mud off his shoes when he reached the pavement. The buildings cut the wind from him and almost instantly he began to shake with a chill. He increased his speed. Near the end of Main Street he turned into the Abbott House Bar.”

East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

It takes awhile to grasp it’s a new year. The stroke of midnight feels like a party, I need quiet and time for reflection. To come to terms with this crazy world and myself. This is the new year, we let go of the past, gifted another chance to start again. To do our best with this life, be better, do better, to be grateful. Walking our dog Fred in the rain, it was cold, windy and wet. Leaves are still falling from the neighborhood trees. It’s no mystery, all that blowing and swirling, floating to the ground. If you take the time, pause, you can watch them. The leaves don’t wait, when the time is right, they let go. And so it is with baking. Easy, scrumptious, all the components fall together, Orange Chocolate Chunk Cake is a grand way to begin the new year. READ MORE . . .

2017/08/082018/01/25

Raspberry Brownies

More than just Brownies

I remember the five-fingered ferns growing under the waterfalls, bobbing their green fingers as the droplets struck them. And I remember the smells of the hills, wild azalea and a very distant skunk and the sweet cloy of lupin and horse sweat on harness.
East of Eden, John Steinbeck

Inspiration

Brownies, why yes! Summer raspberries, of course! Yes to summer bliss in every bite. With such an unassuming recipe title it might be easy to ignore this compelling summer treat. This is a brownie with just enough chocolate to share the stage with in-season raspberries. A bittersweet chocolate glaze drizzled over the brownie takes these brownies from snack worthy to dessert. This is such an easy recipe to make, well worth the results. Just fantastic with summer berries. We went berry picking at Live Earth Farm, coming home with red and golden raspberries, a flat of blackberries too. I took a few photos for Instagram, made lots of jam and these brownies. Walking around the house barefoot is a favorite part of my summer, but intensely flavored summer berries might be even better.

Essentials

I thought the recipe was light on the chocolate, but this is not a dusky, dark chocolate brownie. This brownie is perfectly matched to complement sweet, summer raspberries. A drizzle of bittersweet chocolate adds the pop of flavor I crave in my favorite recipes. READ MORE . . .